Chapter 164: A "Difficult" Victory
The position they were in was very close to the main gate. It was as if the academy wanted to prevent anyone from secretly leaving with an automaton.
A very large grassy area was left between the surrounding walls and the buildings, adding up to the size of two football fields.
The butler said in a lofty tone, "Is this the sleeping place you have chosen for yourself? The view is open and the scenery is beautiful. I must say, your taste is excellent."
Although it was a compliment, the hidden meaning was self-evident.
Kobayashi, naturally, would not back down in a verbal confrontation. He said sarcastically, "I'll take your praise. But is there a possibility, and I'm just saying it's possible... that this is the sleeping place I have specially chosen for you?"
"Hehe."
He didn't say much, just gave a shallow smile, and then disappeared from everyone's sight!
When he reappeared, he had already flashed to Kobayashi's side and kicked out, but it was dodged in time and landed on the sidewalk tree to the left. The thick tree trunk was actually easily broken!
"Don't leave me, Henri."
"Y-yes!"
Henriette shrank fearfully in his arms.
It wasn't just because of the powerful kick, but also because the other party had been constantly monitoring, intimidating, and threatening her, which made the timid girl not dare to look him in the eye.
The attack was not over.
Kobayashi confronted him, and the butler disappeared in an instant again.
"Above! RyuZU!"
She quickly raised her scythes above her head to defend. At the same time, the butler suddenly appeared and kicked at her head. The powerful blow sent the delicate attendant back several meters.
Then, he disappeared again.
—No, that wasn't disappearing.
His speed was extremely fast, and he was completely unaffected by the inertia that should have been there under normal circumstances. He could reach top speed in an instant and could also change his direction of movement to an unpredictable path.
That was why it gave the illusion of disappearing.
[Absolute Control Vibration]
The Magic Circuit that could interfere with the direction of the body's movement at the molecular level to enhance attack, defense, and acceleration... it really was tricky!
His [Spectator] could not capture a target that was moving so fast it was like teleporting, but in combination with the skill [Probe], he could briefly form a defensive field and completely neutralize the opponent's offensive.
However, it was not of much use.
The attendant, without using her abilities, could not suppress the elusive butler.
RyuZU saw the enemy appear on the right. She had thought he would attack from that side, but the other party suddenly disappeared and attacked from the right again.
A black leather shoe drew an arc, and like a giant hammer, it struck her from an oblique angle. Although she barely blocked the attack, the impact caused her feet to sink deep into the mud.
The force was extremely heavy!
He disappeared again, flashed to a position below her, and kicked out.
A flying kick from directly below sent her body flying. Facing the automaton girl who was suspended in mid-air, he did another spin and kicked her away.
She flew out diagonally and crashed into a tree trunk.
She was completely suppressed!
To be honest, since she had become his attendant, this was the first time she had been so pathetic and helpless, completely lacking her usual elegance and composure.
"—Oh no, I almost forgot the young master's order."
After landing, the butler slowly walked towards him and said proudly, "The butlers of the Granville family are excellent, but they are not perfect. If one must point out a flaw, it is that they are a little forgetful. Mr. Kobayashi, the young master has ordered me to bring your head back."
"I see. Is that what that vile fairy ordered you to do?" he said, looking up at him without any fear in his eyes.
The butler's movements paused for a moment, and he said coldly, "What do you mean?"
"...Oh, I just misspoke," he said, and this time, his expression became extremely wicked. He pointed behind him and said, "Don't be careless. The battle is not over yet."
"Hmph."
He let out a cold snort, flashed and created a distance of several meters, dodging the attack from behind.
RyuZU came closer to him, standing in front.
From her appearance, she did not look injured, but the pride of an attendant had been severely beaten, which made the girl's beautiful face wrinkle slightly.
He could feel that she was very angry.
"I'm sorry, Master Kobayashi. The opponent is a little tricky, and you had to see your attendant in an unseemly state."
"It's not your fault. It was my orders that prevented you from displaying your full strength."
"In that case, Master Kobayashi, may I cut him down? Cut him into hundreds of thousands of pieces and then throw him in the garden as fertilizer for the flowers."
"No. After all, if we do that, the other party will have no game experience. To be honest, it's quite tiring to keep that vile fairy-girl (Alice) on the hook."
This was the reason he had not let her use her ability.
He had to let the other party have a sense of participation, to satisfy their wicked hobby. Otherwise, if that person were to flip the table because they had no game experience, then all the previous groundwork would have been in vain.
Hearing the master and servant's conversation, the butler was slightly surprised.
He pushed up the dark glasses on the bridge of his nose and asked curiously, "Don't tell me you still have a trick up your sleeve? Although the young master has anticipated this situation, ... I do not believe it will be of any use."
"How will you know if you don't try?" He handed Henriette, who was in his arms, to her and slowly stepped forward. That action, as if to say that he would be the one fighting next.
And that was indeed the case.
He produced a longsword from thin air, as if by magic. Even the butler couldn't help but laugh out loud. "The butlers of the Granville family are excellent, but they are not perfect. If one must point out a flaw, it is that they are a little disgusted by puppeteers who don't know their own limits!"
In his eyes, a puppeteer should be cowering in the rear, protected by their automaton. After all, that was the basic tone of the world of automatons.
But...
"It seems it's necessary to teach you a lesson. The topic is—never underestimate anyone. Question: why did I deliberately lure you here?"
After saying this, he dodged a powerful kick that was like a giant hammer.
The difference was that he did not flash away as before, but disappeared completely, leaving only a purple magic circle where he had stood.
The butler turned his head to look at him, who had appeared on another empty piece of ground.
And seeing his confusion, he took the initiative to explain.
"This is the ability of a Teigu."
"A Teigu?"
"Ah, a kind of item with magical power. It's quite useful at times."
"Oh?"
The butler was still puzzled.
But he had no intention of explaining or showing off to him. Instead, he said, "To continue the previous question—why did I deliberately lure you here? The answer is..."
As if to echo his words, the same purple magic circles as before appeared all around the empty ground, above and below, left and right.
"I have already set a trap here!"
His longsword pointed at him from afar.
The Teigu [Shambhala], one of his hidden trump cards. He had not even used it when he was saving Yomi, saving it until now just to give the other party a little shock.
"Well then..."
He struck a pose, and as the other party also took a defensive stance, he instantly disappeared from the spot.
The next second, he appeared behind him.
The longsword swung down in an instant, but the man just slid in mid-air and easily dodged the attack. Then, with an unpredictable and inertialess movement, he whipped a kick towards him.
Knowing that he could not compete with the other's powerful body, he once again instantly disappeared and appeared in front of the butler, stabbing his sword at his throat.
But the next second, two fingers clamped down on the longsword.
Clang—
A crisp sound echoed in the night sky.
From this starting point, the purple magic circles continuously flashed and dissipated, lasting for less than a second. And his figure traveled between the various magic circles, his speed so fast it was as if he had clones, slashing at the butler in the center from all angles.
However, even so, the butler also used his incredibly fast speed and ridiculously strong body to intercept every hidden-angle attack with either his fingers or his legs.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang...
Sparks flew, but the prolonged attack was ineffective.
No matter how much he sped up his attacks, they were all intercepted by the other party.
What a troublesome fellow.
In this moment, he had the urge to, regardless of everything, use [Shambhala]'s ultimate move and throw the other party into another dimension.
But in the end, he held back.
The butler before him was an important material for the Headmaster to create a Divine Machinart. If he disappeared, he would surely fly into a rage.
He could run, but Charlotte and the others could not.
In his anger, his attack frequency became even faster.
At this moment, the composed butler could also see that he had no other attack methods and mocked him, "What's wrong? Is that all you've got? Although your speed is very fast, Mr. Kobayashi, it is clear that my speed is faster. You are unable to break through my defenses."
"Really? But in my eyes, it doesn't seem to be so. Most importantly, my target is not you, but the puppeteer behind you," his voice came from all directions.
Seeing the other so stubborn, the butler sighed and lowered his voice. "The butlers of the Granville family are excellent, but they are not perfect. If one must point out a flaw, it is that they are a little too talkative—an automaton does not produce its own mana. Even for a Bandoll, the one producing the mana is not the doll, but the human part installed within it. Then why can I fight alone? Let me tell you..."
He deliberately paused for a moment, as if to put pressure on the enemy, then said loudly, "The person before you is a Divine Machinart!"
After saying this, he observed his reaction.
However, not only did his attacks not slow down, but there was not even a moment of stiffness. In fact, his attacks were even faster than before.
What in the world is going on...
Even a puppeteer who had just started learning about automatons should know about Divine Machinart. But to hear his words and not even hesitate for a moment... it left the butler completely baffled.
And he was kind enough to give an explanation.
"If it were yesterday, I might have been a little shaken. But it just so happens that a few hours ago, I asked the strongest magician of the 19th century about Divine Machinart. And his answer was..."
He also deliberately lowered his voice.
But the butler was clearly attracted by his words, and even his movements slowed down by a few beats. Fortunately, his speed was fast, and he barely dodged a few slashes. It was just that, unlike his previous ease, he had become a little pathetic.
But he no longer cared about such small details. He was more concerned about what he had said about Divine Machinart.
He also didn't deliberately keep him in suspense and said with a light laugh, "He said—because only by transforming a machine into a true human can it be called a true Divine Machinart. To be completely autonomous, to possess the abilities of an automaton in a human body... you say you are a Divine Machinart, but why are your mana and stamina gradually weakening... Don't you notice? Your breathing has become ragged."
The butler before him could indeed be on his own, but he still needed a puppeteer to replenish his mana.
He was autonomous, but only a little.
The butler's shoulders slowly rose and fell. It looked as if he were panting. He could no longer maintain his previous calm and had already begun to think about how to escape.
"I won't let you escape. It's already 'Checkmate'."
"Tsk."
In the butler's eyes, his goal was simple: just to tie him up and exhaust his mana. Then he would be at his mercy.
But the other party had overlooked one point.
And that was—
His attacks did not stop, but the butler had completely stopped defending, letting countless sword shadows fall on his body.
I hit him!
Henriette, who was watching from the distance, almost jumped up and cheered.
The suit on the butler's body was instantly cut open, but his chest underneath was unharmed, not even bleeding.
In fact, his sword blade had been twisted and deformed.
Her eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape. She was so shocked she couldn't speak.
"That's how it is," the butler said, completely undefended and proud. "My body is exceptionally hard. Nothing can cut it. So even if I don't defend, it's completely fine."
"Is that so."
RyuZU suddenly flashed to his side, her scythes swinging towards his neck.
But it was completely useless. It didn't even cut his skin.
There was nothing to be surprised about.
After all, the [Magic Sword] that Charlotte possessed—the secret art that could intervene with the truth of the universe and destroy any tangible thing regardless of its hardness—could not take him out. It was within expectations that RyuZU's technological scythes did not cause any damage.
"Well then, can this farce be over now?"
The butler tidied up his tattered suit to make himself look less sloppy and rude.
He slowly walked towards him, looking very polite. After this, all he had to do was take his head to complete his master's mission.
But he suddenly spoke up at this moment. "...Fairy."
"What?"
The butler frowned slightly.
He had also heard him say that during the battle. At the time, he hadn't paid it any mind, and he had also said he had misspoken.
Now it seemed things were not that simple.
He pointed to his forehead. "Actually, my eyes are a little different from others'. I can see things that ordinary people cannot. Therefore, even a certain beautiful girl's disguise is useless in my eyes. By the way, she has a nice figure."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"You really don't want to use your brain, do you, Mr. Butler? You know, right? I have many helpers. Yet they are not here now. Then where did they go?"
He raised his head proudly.
Seeing the other's uneasy, flustered expression was very pleasant, just like a certain vile, unhinged chaos seeker.
"Your master's disguise magic is indeed very powerful. Whether it's the voice or the body shape, no one can see anything out of the ordinary. But such a powerful magic has one fatal weakness—and that is, it cannot disguise the scent! And it just so happens that I have a good hand on my side who relies on scent to find targets. And it just so happens that her brother is one of the top thirteen, known as the undefeated [Sword Emperor] in practical combat."
"You...!"
The butler's face suddenly changed. Even his dark glasses could not block the strong killing intent emanating from his gaze.
He, however, let out a light laugh. "Will you continue to be entangled with me in a stalemate, or will you go and rescue your master? Choose, Mr. Butler."
However, no matter which he chose, they would be the ones who failed in the end.
"I told you, didn't I? It's Checkmate."
"I must admit, you are truly outstanding, just as outstanding as my master. I express my admiration to you from the bottom of my heart."
The butler, as if he had seen through everything, slowly dissipated his killing intent.
Then, he said proudly, "The butlers of the Granville family are excellent, but they are not perfect. If one must point out a flaw, it is that they are a little stubborn. Even if they know it's a trap, they will definitely go and save that master with the terrible personality."
"I must admit, you are also an excellent butler. I acknowledge you," he also gave him high praise.
Hearing his praise, the butler bowed respectfully and then headed in the direction of his master.
Watching his back, he slowly put away a crystal.
At the same time, RyuZU said, "Master Kobayashi, don't tell me you were thinking of using that magic just now?"
"I was. Even if I knew the other's body was strong, I still wanted to try and see if [Explosion] could harm him."
"Master Kobayashi, although I also had the same thought, please have some common sense—there is still a delicate girl here. If she were to be caught up in it, that Tyrant Rex lady would be angry."
"That's why I didn't let you use the [Imaginary Switch]."
A true trump card must always be saved until the very last moment. All the groundwork before was for the final killing blow. It was just that because of the other's final choice, he didn't have to use it.
But it should be fine this time.
Frey and Loki would go and find Alice, throw the dirty water on Cedric's body, the Kingsfort family's conspiracy would be destroyed, and the Charlotte sisters would no longer be threatened.
I've finally won. What a "difficult" victory.
(End of Chapter)